


When Are You Going To Start Telling People What Happened?

by orphan_account



Series: Questions We Ask Ourselves [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternative Universe - Human, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hanging Out, Mute Frisk, Non-Binary Chara, Non-Binary Frisk, Platonic Relationships, Stuttering Alphys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-07 00:41:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6777763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chara picks out the flower from behind their ear and throws it at their younger sibling, so that it lands on their lap. "It's a beautiful day outside." </p>
<p>Frisk nods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Are You Going To Start Telling People What Happened?

**Author's Note:**

> This is the Undertale version of moirails tbh

Alphys has always been a bit of _hikikomori_ , she'll be the first to admit that. Ever since that incident that occurred a few years ago, she's spent more time inside than she has outside. Talking to other people, going to places; things like these make her heart flutter and her palms clammy and her stomach heave like she's going to puke. That's why she normally works at home, sending in her notes and papers to her new boss. 

She has food delivered to her door, she buys most of her clothes online, and she doesn't speak to anybody else. But today... Today, she's decided that she should change things. Since she met this girl- Undyne- who lives upstairs, she's been thinking about her non-stop. They've been spending a lot of time together over the weekends but Undyne normally approaches Alphys first. Tonight, Alphys has decided she might actually venture outside and see if Undyne is free. 

Hands shaking, she opens the door and shuts it carefully behind her. She takes the stairs two at a time, almost rushing to get there, before she runs directly into someone on the stairs. 

"Hey, watch it!" A flash of red eyes sends Alphys stumbling backwards down the stairs. She nearly trips, just about regaining her balance, before reaching the bottom step and falling. She lands on her butt and finds herself staring up at an unfamiliar face. The only thing she recognises is the dark hair curling around the person's shoulders and the dark eyes buried in their face. This person looks similar to her neighbour upstairs. 

What was their name? Frisk?

"Watch where you're going, dweeb." The person scoffs, stepping past them. 

But... Frisk was nice. Alphys had bumped into her once or twice and Frisk had always been kind, listening patiently as she stuttered out her words and nodding along happily, smiling. This person... Was not Frisk. It must have been the person that Undyne called Frisk's sibling... They'd never met but Alphys had spotted them in the backseat of a car, glaring at her, and she'd been scared then too. Now, she swallows hard. 

The person disappears down the rest of the stairs in a flash of green and yellow. 

Alphys pushes herself back onto her feet and continues up the stairs. 

Undyne isn't in. There's a note stuck up on her door to prove it. She's at work. Alphys lets out a sigh, staring at the note, before turning away and starting back down the stairs. She isn't expecting someone to grab her by the shoulder, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. She spins around and finds herself face to face with Frisk- the real Frisk, not the kid that just bumped into her on the stairs- who looks worried. 

"F-F-Frisk." Alphys frowns, "W-what's wrong?" 

They shrug and dig around in the pocket of their shorts, before obviously realising that they left their notebook upstairs. They let out an exaggerated sigh, signing something quickly that Alphys doesn't understand, before racing back up the stairs. Unsure of whether she's meant to wait or what, Alphys shuffles unsurely after them. They dart into the apartment, leaving the door swinging open, and Alphys can't stop herself from peering around the door curiously. Since she's moved here, she hasn't spoken much with the other residents. She certainly hasn't intruded in their apartments- not even Undyne's. 

Frisk is digging through a desk but when they notice Alphys hovering there, they gesture for her to enter the apartment. _Come in, come in_ , they wave her in, and she enters hesitantly. It's a plain apartment, though there are several paintings of bright yellow flowers pinned up on the wall, and several stacks of video games on the coffee table. Otherwise, the apartment is rather plain and almost... Empty. It's peaceful. Frisk's roommate- Alphys doesn't know their name- must be either out or shut away in their room. 

Alphys scuttles over and joins Frisk at the desk, where they are rifling through papers in the drawer in search of their notebook. Balanced on the desk are several keepsakes: a jar of water labelled "SNOWMAN", a faded ribbon tied in a bow, a tiny model of a robot, a half-eaten box of "monster" candy, and a box labelled "CHARA'S". This box is closed and seems to have been that way for a long time, if the dust gathered on top is anything to go by. 

The scientific curiosity inside Alphys burns. She wants to open the box. 

Finally, Frisk digs out a notebook and writes quickly. 

_You saw Chara, didn't you? I'm sorry about that._

"It's f-fine." Chara must be Frisk's weird sibling. "I d-didn't know you h-had relatives s-st-staying." 

Frisk shakes their head. _It's tricky to explain. But Chara isn't staying with me._

"O-oh." 

They hold up a finger, gesturing for Alphys to wait. They quickly draw themself looking sad with their evil sibling (twin? They look so similar!) cackling behind them. It's surprisingly good for a fast sketch. 

Frisk pulls an identical face before flipping the page and scrawling: _I'm really sorry they bothered you. Let me make it up to you somehow. I heard you like anime?_ They flip the page. _I don't have any anime but I have some video games which popular animes are based off._

Alphys smiles. "Uh, y-yeah, that s-sounds fun." 

As it turns out, Frisk makes good company. Because they don't talk and Alphys struggles to get her words out, there's no pressure to try and make conversation. They just play quietly, Frisk keeping their notebook close-by so that they can share any hints. They're really good at video games and they tell Alphys through a series of notes and doodles that they played a lot of them with their sibling while they were growing up. 

_But Chara was always so intent on killing other characters. I'm not like that. I could never bring myself to hurt anyone in a fight, so I didn't win too many games_. Frisk shrugs. 

Alphys doesn't want to play any fighting games either. They bond over smushy romantic anime games with magical girls and wise cats. 

"S-so..." Alphys says, when they retreat to the kitchen for a snack break, "You, uh, seem to b-be p-pretty good f-friends with U-Un-Und-Undyne." Her name is always so tricky to push past her teeth, "Uh... What's that l-like?" 

Hasty scribbling of explanations. _We met when I moved into this apartment. Undyne has lived in her apartment for about a million years, I think. Everybody around here knows who she is!_

"Uh, y-yeah!" Alphys nods. It seems like everybody knows Undyne. The one occasion that they went into town together, it seemed like everybody and anybody came to say hi to them. There was this one kid that came clamouring for autographs. Alphys doesn't even know what Undyne does for a living but she seems to be pretty good at whatever it is. 

Frisk flips the page. _She's really cool, I guess. We hang out a lot._

They fiddle with the bright yellow flowers arranged nicely in an old vase, picking at the flowers almost nervously. They look at Alphys and then, away again. It's almost as if they want to say something but they aren't sure how to phrase it. Alphys doesn't pry, waiting patiently, as Frisk fumbles around with the flowers and thinks hard. 

_Alphys... Why do you stutter like that?_

"Uh... I don't kn-know?" Alphys swallows, "It's just s-something I've always d-done. It g-got a lot b-b-better since I took s-some speech therapy c-cl-classes in college." She tucks a loose curl back behind her ear, "I g-guess I'm just n-nervous. About st-stuff. Since the in-in-inci-incident..." 

Frisk looks at her quizzically but Alphys just shakes her head. She's not ready to talk about it, not yet, not even with somebody as kind as Frisk. 

"N-nothing." She looks away. 

There's a frantic scribbling of a pencil pressed to paper, before Frisk taps her on the shoulder. When Alphys doesn't turn back to them, Frisk just pushes the notebook onto her lap. It's a drawing, nothing fancy or arty, but it's easy to tell what it is. A tiny Frisk with their arms flung around a surprised Alphys with a tiny speech bubble reading _don't worry, I can keep your secret! I don't talk, remember?_. 

Alphys shakes her head and hands the notebook back. It's not as easy as that. 

_I guess we all have our secrets! We can be friends anyway. Maybe one day, we can talk about the things that happened to us._

"M-maybe." Alphys doubts it. 

_In the meantime, want to play some more games?_

"W-wait, I have one q-ques-question." Alphys stammers, before Frisk can slip away, "W-why... What's the d-deal with all the f-flowers?" Something about them filling the apartment has become oddly claustrophobic, "I don't un-understand why y-you like them s-so much." 

Frisk's teeth dig into their bottom lip. They stare at their notebook for a long time before writing a few simple words there, taking time curling the words with their pencil. 

_They remind me of somebody._

They shrug and return to the couch. Alphys follows. 

It's later that the door swings open and the strange person that looks like Frisk but so different to Frisk at the same time renters with a scowl on their face. There's a flower tucked behind their ear, a yellow one, and Frisk visibly shrinks in their seat. Chara- that's their name, right?- slinks over, slow enough that Alphys can get a better look. 

The closer she looks the more different the two siblings look. Chara is taller, a little more colour in their face, brighter eyes. Their hair is a lighter shade of brown, mousier, and there's a necklace with a bright red heart hanging around their neck. A single yellow stripe is painted all the way around their torso and it looks like it's been painted by hand, like they drew it on there themselves. To mock Frisk? Maybe. Alphys feels suddenly unsure of herself, like she shouldn't be here, and her hands begin to shake. 

"It figures that you two nerds would hang out together." Chara's voice is much too loud and much too empty, "You should keep better company, Frisk." 

Alphys' shoulders begin to shake too. 

Chara picks out the flower from behind their ear and throws it at their younger sibling, so that it lands on their lap. "It's a beautiful day outside." 

Frisk nods. 

"You should come and enjoy it with me." Chara smiles, a little too wide, "I know you don't go outside too much anymore, Frisk, but it's really pretty out there. We could go for a walk in the ruins." 

The... Ruins? Are they talking about the old, crumbling part of town that was cut off from citizens long ago? People aren't supposed to go there. 

Frisk shakes their head. 

"Suit yourself." Chara shrugs, "I visited Asriel today." 

Asriel... Why does that name sound familiar? Then, Alphys manages to place it. Asriel Dreemurr had been the son of her old boss, some kid that had gotten into a tragic accident years ago and never quite recovered from it. He'd lived a while after but he hadn't been himself at all and had eventually died from his injuries. She'd heard the story at the time from her boss and shortly after his son had died, she'd been relieved of her job. She'd never been so glad to leave. It meant that she didn't have to resign by herself, which she wasn't brave enough to do. 

Still, that Asriel incident had been a tragedy. She had no idea there was any kind of connection between her old boss's son and the siblings living in the apartment upstairs... But she was surprised to find out so. 

Frisk's hands clench into fists. 

"He misses you. You should pay him a visit someday, instead of just ignoring him." Chara has a grin on their face, like they're enjoying upsetting their sibling. Like they're waiting for something- waiting for Frisk to snap, Alphys realises suddenly and she gulps. 

"H-hey." Alphys manages, clearing her throat, "You're u-up-upsetting F-F-Fr-Frisk." 

Chara looks at her dismissively. "I'll be in our room, when you decide to speak to me." 

The door slams behind them and Alphys catches sight of the sign swinging on the door. _Frisk's Room_ is printed on a nice sign covered in flowers. Underneath, **AND CHARA** is scrawled in black marker. 

"I th-thought they w-weren't living w-with y-you?" Alphys looks to Frisk. 

Frisk has picked up the flower and are twiddling it in their hands, staring at it. There's a dark look in their eyes like they're remembering something they thought they'd forgotten. Frisk looks up and there's tears in their eyes. Before Alphys can protest, they've wrapped their arms tightly around her and pulled her in close. 

They stay like that for a while, holding onto each other, and Frisk sniffles. 

"W-want to t-talk about i-it?" Alphys asks, remembering how Frisk tried to reach out to her earlier. 

Frisk shakes their head. 

_Not now._


End file.
